Heel base



Dec. 15, 1931. HADAWAY 1,836,240

HEEL BASE Filed May 31, 1929 Fig.1.

Patented Dec. 15, 1 931 UNITE. STATES l MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW Application filed May 31,

"This invention relates to heel bases, and particularly to'bases to which'it is intended that rubber heels shallbe attached.

The usual base for rubber heels is pianoconvex and comprises one or more fiat, fullsiZed lifts of leather with a leather rand secured thereto at the attaching :face of the base to provide a concave or cupped surface 'tofit the convex surface of the heel'seat of a i shoe. Heretofore it has-never been found practical to economize in the manufacture of leather substitute for the full-sized lift,because such. materials were not sufficiently it tough to withstand the abrasion resultlng from the chafing action of the rubber heel upon the marginal portion of the outer face of the heel base, which occurs at every step taken by the wearer of the shoe. This chafing action is an incident to the alternate deformation and recovery of the rubber as the weight of the wearer is applied to and removed from the heel, and is so vigorous that a leatherboard surface subjected to it is soon frayed anddisintegrated.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a practical, satisfactory heel base which can be manufactured more cheaply than the all-leather heel bases now commonly accomplished by facing the marginal portion of a full-sized lift of cheap material, such as leatherboard or any of the common leather substitutes, with a strip of tough material capable of resisting disintegration from the chafing action of a rubber heel; the facing strip being upon that face of the lift to which the rubber heel is to be applied, as distinguished from the attaching face of the lift to which. rand has heretofore been applied to produce a cupped surface.

Conveniently, though not, necessarily, the facing strip may be made of leather and may, as illustrated herein, resemble a rand in that it may be wedge shaped in cross section, but its position, as above stated, is very different from that of the usual rand and it performs a service of primary importance in withstanding thech afing action of the rubber heel,

used, and I have discovered that this can be PATENT OFFICE.

conic i3. HAnawaY; or swamrscorr, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIenon T0 UNITED snoE HEEL BASE 1929 Serial No. 367,586.

which serviceis not performed at all by the ordinary rand. v i

As shown in the accompanying drawings my improved heel base may beplano-cjo'nveX in form, to fit the heel seat of a shoe and provide a plane face for the reception of arubber heel. the facing strip constituting the'marginal portion of the plane face. The remainder of thebase may consist of one or more concavo-convexlifts of leather substitute, for example leathe rboard.- heel bases by the use of leatherboard or other 1 These and other featuresand advantages of the invention may be better understood and appreciated from reading the following detailed description of one embodiment of the article and a'manner of practising the process in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which i i 1 V Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview illustrating the first step inthe manufacture of my improved heel base; i

Fig. 2 is a transverse section in the plane 11-11 of Fig. 1; l

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the heel base inits final form; 'and Fig. dis a transverse section in the plane Ive-IV of Fig.- 3, showing also the manner in which a rubber' heel may. be applied to thebase; f l

Referring now to Fig.1, -l0'indicates-a full-sized, substantially fiat lift of material cheaper than leathersuch, for example, as

leatherboard or any other suitable-leather substitute." It, is well-known to those skilled in the art that manufactured materials ofthis class are quite satisfactory for'use in heels for many classes of shoes and that very substantial economies are obtained by using them instead of'leather, not only becau'se such materials are intrinsically cheaper than leather but also because, being manufactured in sheets of any desired size and thickness, they can be cut to produce a minimum amount of waste. Large quantities of leather substitutes are, therefore, used in the manufacture of heels but because of the well-known fact that such materials, although satisfactory in other parts of a heel, will not withstand the abrasion resulting from the chafing action of a rubber heel upon the marginal portion of the outer face of a. heel base it has heretofore been considered necessary to employ a leather lift in this position.

In manufacturing my improved heel base, a facing strip 12 of tough material, capable of resisting disintegration from the chafing action=ofa'ru'bber'lieel, is applied and attached to the marginal portion of one'face of the'lift 10.- \Vhile it may be preferred tomalie the facingstrip l2 of leathler, it is i. 7 within the scope of the invention to employ appearingias shown in'Fig'; 1 is n'ext'molded in a heel compressingmachine to the form sh'oWn in FigsL3 and lwhere'in the originally'fiat exposed face 14 of the leatherboard lift 10 'becomes'concave'and :the' face to which the wedge 'sliapedstrip 12 is secured becomes plane any'wrinkles or irregularities in the facing strip *beingrem'o'ved by the compressingand molding operation. The concave face I d-oftlie he'ehb'aseis formed to fit the heehsea't of a shoe" and the plane face is adapted to receive a rubber heel, as-indicated attlG in FigHh From Figs. 3 and 4 it will readily be seen that the marginal portion of the outer face of the heel basei w'hichis the portion detrimentally affectedby'the chafing action of the rubber heel, consists'of leather or other suitable abrasion resisting material, and experience has demonstrated that this hee'l'base is entirely-satisfactoryfor a large proportion of rubber 'hee'le'dshoes although it can be manufactured'at considerably less cost than can the" heel bases heretofore used commercially.

Having described the invention What is claimetha'snew and desired tobe secured by lietters-Pate'nt is 1; A iheel base forrubber heels comprising a=full sizedlift of cheap material subject to distintegfation from the chafing action of a rubber heel and a facing, consisting of a strip'oftol'igh material capable of resisting; such" disintegration,upon'the marginal portionof thattface"the' lift'to which a'rubber heel is to be applied;

2;: A; licel'ba's'e for rubber heels comprising; a' full'si'Zechlift"of 'leather substitute and a strip of leather ofw'edge-shaped cross section attachedtothe marginal portion of that face ofthe' lift to'wliich a rubber heel is to he applied.

3. A plano-concave heel base for rubber heels, said heel base comprising a full sized lift of leather substitute and a randlike strip of leather attached to said lift and constituting the marginal portion of that face of the heel base to Which a rubber 'heelis to be applied A heel base for rubber heels comprising a body portion of material cheaper than leather, of the sizeand contour ofthe' desired base, and a strip o'f'leather attached to the rubber heel receiving face of's'aidbody portion, the peripheral edges of the body portion and stripbeing substantially flush with each other.

A heel'base'for' rubber heels comprising a concave-convex body portion of leatherboard to the marginal portion-ofthe-conveX face of which-is attached a strip of leather' of wedge-shaped cross section, providing an ap proximately flat surface of leather forengagement withthemarginal portion of the attaching face ofa rubber heel;- n

In testimonywhereof=,- I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN B. HADAWAY. 

